Grushko spoke about the growing number of supporters of dialogue with the Russian Federation in Europe

Moscow is registering an increase in the number of supporters in Europe of resuming dialogue with the Russian Federation, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told Izvestia.

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"Unfortunately, today we see that the policy of the European Union is determined by an aggressive majority. But at the same time, we are detecting more and more sober voices, and this is reflected not only in the statements of politicians, but also at the level of political parties. We see that many political forces in Europe in various countries, including, for example, in Germany, are well aware that the lack of dialogue with Russia contradicts the interests of these countries and worsens the security situation," the diplomat said.

These political forces proceed from the fact that NATO and the EU are not an island, we are a common continent, he noted. And reliable security cannot be built not only against Russia — it is counterproductive — but also without Russia. We need to return to some mechanisms that would allow us to move forward and create a more peaceful Europe without falling into an arms race. We went through all this during the Cold War, and there are still people who remember the lessons and would not like to repeat them, Grushko stressed.

At the same time, today the total amount of military budgets of the alliance's members is $ 1.5 trillion, and if they reach the ceiling of 5% of GDP by 2035, expenditures may increase by about $1 trillion more, Grushko notes. Today alone, 32 NATO countries account for 55% of global military spending. NATO understands that additional expenses will be withdrawn from taxpayers' pockets. This is a prospect that cannot but worry responsible politicians, said the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation.

"All this will drain the economy and have the most negative impact on the situation of the working people. And if the parties rely on the relevant segments of society, of course, they begin to think about it one way or another. We hear these voices. But I would like to emphasize once again that in conditions of suffocating Russophobia, where all the hatches are battened down, these voices sound muffled. However, they are there," the Russian diplomat said.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

In the zone of approach: the number of supporters of the resumption of dialogue with the Russian Federation is growing in Europe